“Emily in Paris” has always been a fantasy of croissants, couture, and chaos. Now it’s adding a fresh ingredient: Jewish actor Bryan Greenberg.
Greenberg will be portraying Jake from Michigan when Season 5 drops on Dec. 18 on Netflix. While we don’t know how he and Emily (Jewish actress Lily Collins) will meet in either Paris or Rome this season, we hope it’s a romance for the two American expats. We at Unpacked think Emily needs a new love interest: Gabriel is the worst, Emily did Alfie dirty, and Marcello is boring.
If Greenberg looks familiar, it’s because he’s been doing the charming-guy circuit for a while, from TV roles to rom-coms and everything in between. Now he’s entering Netflix’s most unserious universe at exactly the moment it’s trying to reinvent itself in Rome.
Before catching him on the latest season of “Emily in Paris,” here’s everything we know about Bryan Greenberg’s Jewish identity.
The basics
Bryan Greenberg was born on May 24, 1978, to Jewish parents Denise and Carl Greenberg in Omaha, Nebraska.
Greenberg joked that while growing up in the Midwest, he was “the one” Jew in Omaha.
“But it’s not really like that,” Bryan told JVibe Magazine. “There is a pretty big Jewish community out there — not huge. I was the only Jewish kid at school.”
Greenberg was raised entrenched in the city’s Conservative Jewish community, attending and having a bar mitzvah ceremony at Beth El Synagogue. He was also a member of Jewish youth groups; attended and later worked at Camp Herzl in Wisconsin, where he acted in theater productions; and went on trips to Israel.
Greenberg’s path to acting started early: He began performing around age 7 after being cast in The Nutcracker through the Omaha Ballet, and by 12, he’d landed his first national gig in a Cookie Crisp commercial. From there, he kept building toward the screen, studying theater at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and then making an early TV appearance on “Law & Order” in 1997.
He went on to portray fan-favorite characters like single dad heartthrob Jake Jagielski on “One Tree Hill,” Rick Dodson in “Suits LA,” and as Nick Garrett on “October Road.”
Greenberg started dating fellow actor Jamie Chung in 2012; the couple got married three years later after he proposed with an original song.
“The pair exchanged vows under a chuppah adorned with olive branches and wild grasses,” according to Martha Stewart Weddings. Greenberg broke the glass, they danced the hora, and were lifted on chairs at the event.
The couple welcomed an adorable pair of twin boys in Oct. 2021. Chung, who is Christian, has blended her traditions with Greenberg’s. He discussed buying his first Christmas tree for his wife, and they have shared images of their family lighting the Hanukkah candles.
“Merry Christmas. And to all my people happy Chinese food day,” he wrote in 2020.
Bryan Greenberg has played many Jewish characters
Greenberg has played several roles where the character is explicitly Jewish, sometimes as a quiet detail, and sometimes as the entire engine of the plot.
In “Prime” (2005), he plays David Bloomberg, a 23-year-old Jewish artist who gets into a relationship with an older, recently divorced woman. Their romance is also an interfaith story, and the tension at home is part of the point, including a mother who is both his therapist’s therapist (yes) and a Jewish parent with strong opinions about who her son should date. For “Prime,” director Ben Younger had this painting commissioned of Greenberg.
A few years later, Greenberg starred as Ben Epstein in HBO’s “How to Make It in America.” The show follows Ben and his friend as they try to break into New York’s fashion scene.
On “The Mindy Project,” his recurring character Ben is written into Jewish life more through family milestones than big speeches. There’s even an episode centered on his daughter’s bat mitzvah, which becomes a relationship flashpoint for Mindy as the not-yet-invited girlfriend.
And then there’s “Round and Round” (2023), Hallmark’s Hanukkah time-loop movie, where Greenberg plays certified nice Jewish boy Zach Rubin, the love interest who keeps reappearing as the holiday night resets.
Greenberg has also played Nate Lerner, Kate Hudson’s on-screen brother in “Bride Wars,” Nathan Fisher in “A Short History of Decay,” Isaac in “You People,” and Mila Kunis’ situationship in “Friends with Benefits.” Greenberg also starred as himself in George Clooney’s “Unscripted” in 2005.
He’s already made his American expat debut, starring alongside his real-life wife, Jamie Chung, as Josh Rosenberg in “Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong.”
In 2014, he wrote and starred in his directorial debut, “Junction,” a film about the opioid crisis, inspired by his own struggle a decade ago. “Junction” also starred Chung, Josh Peck, and Greenberg’s “One Tree Hill” co-star Sophia Bush.
Greenberg frequently shares his love of the Jewish community
Off-screen, Greenberg’s connection to the Jewish community shows up most consistently online, from holiday posts, shout-outs to Jewish creators, and moments of solidarity.
For every Jewish holiday, he sends a message out to his Jewish fans and supporters.
He’s done the practice for years and never misses Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Hanukkah, even sharing photos of his matzah ball soup and “MatzoBry” to celebrate. Though he noted in 2023 that after Hamas’ attacks on Israel, “Hannakah hits different this year.”
Also, he had this amazing comparison that we’ve been thinking about for hours:
Greenberg — who is an avid hiker and runner — also made this impressive joke.
He has spoken out against antisemitism
Over the years, Greenberg has been a strong celebrity voice in the fight against antisemitism, speaking out on Jew hatred since the beginning of his career. He has often referenced his grandfather, who was born in Germany and fled to the United States amid rising Third Reich antisemitism, and enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight the Nazis.
“As a kid I spent much of my youth playing basketball and hanging out with friends in Jewish Community Centers where I grew up in Omaha and St Louis. It was a safe place. But now these community centers are under attack. There have been 89 bomb threats at 72 Jewish community centers & day schools in 30 states & Canada since the start of 2017. On top of that hundreds of jewish graves have been desecrated,” he wrote in 2017.
“Anti-Semitism is nothing new. The jews have been persecuted for thousands of years. And guess what? We’re still here and we’re not going anywhere. All this hate you’re spewing only emboldens, and unites us. … This fight against extremism is the epitome of what America is and should be. It’s true history does repeat itself and love always wins.”
Following the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in 2018, he shared messages calling for solidarity.
After the military confrontation between Israel and Hamas in May 2021 and the surge in antisemitic incidents after, Greenberg wrote that there is “No justification or place for anti-semitism. None!”
In 2022, he took part in a roundtable on antisemitism, “Recipe for Change: Standing Up to Antisemitism.” In the video, Greenberg discussed his experiences being publicly Jewish in the entertainment industry and the need to support the Jewish community.
In the weeks after the October 7 attacks on Israel, Greenberg began to speak out online.
“All the Jewish friends and family I’ve spoken with feel scared, isolated, and misunderstood right now. Can’t help but think this is how the holocaust happened, by normalizing the hatred of Jews. If you think we’re acting paranoid it’s because we have a right to be,” he wrote on X.
After supporters of Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv were violently attacked across Amsterdam following a Europa League match in Nov. 2024, Greenberg wrote: “Disgusted by what happened in Amsterdam today.”
He’s also shared his support for other Jewish celebrities — like Alex Edelman — and non-Jewish allies for their support fighting antisemitism.
Greenberg has not been shy about showing his disdain for antisemitic rapper Kanye West and those who have blamed his bigotry on his mental illness, writing, “Kanye’s a clown. You don’t get a pass on hating jews if you’re bipolar. You’re just a bipolar antisemite. Fuck outta here!”
Greenberg has shown support for Israel
Greenberg has never been shy about his support for the State of Israel, posting pictures of his travels there and calling for peace in the region.
After the October 7 attacks, he wrote: “I don’t have a take. I don’t have the words. I’m devastated and still processing the inhumanity.”
In the wake of the attacks, Greenberg was flooded with antisemitic comments on his social media. After he wrote that Jewish people are scared in light of the increase of antisemitism, he was spammed, leading him to write a call for unity: “Crazy times when a cry for understanding is met with so much vitriol. So I guess here’s something that’s really going piss people off. I want peace for both Israelis and Palestinians. I see you all as my brothers and sisters.”
While promoting “Junction” in Jan. 2024, Greenberg donned a yellow ribbon calling for the release of the hostages in Israel. Over the past two years, he has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and has demanded the release of the hostages.
